招生官揭秘法学院录取流程及标准

Admissions process:录取流程：What does the admissions process of Cornell Law consist of, and how is an application rated?康奈尔的录取流程组成是什么样的，申请如何被评价？We have always used what some schools now call “full-file review”. This means that every part of the application is reviewed and taken into consideration during our selection process. This is nothing new to us. We have always done it because our general goal is to find students who will thrive both academically and as individuals in our community. Because law school applicants come from all walks of life and have very different academic and personal backgrounds, to do anything else would not give us the background we need to make good decisions.我们采用很多学校采用的“全材料审理”，即申请材料的每一部分都会被审核并作为选拔过程的考虑依据。这并不是新鲜的事物。我们这样做，因为我们的主要目标是找出能够在学术上和社会实践中都发达的学生。因为法学院申请者来自各行各业，且有不同的学术与个人背景，做其他的任何事情不能给我们做决定所需的背景。Does Cornell Law have an approximate hierarchy on what is most valuable for admissions: GPA, LSAT, etc?康奈尔法学院有录取最重要的指标大概的分级吗，比如GPA，LSAT？It’s never as simple as a number and it’s different in different situations. For example, if someone has already shown that they are a great student through their work in a rigorous academic setting, the LSAT will be less important to us. On the other hand, if someone wasn’t the greatest student when they went to college ten years ago, we’ll be more interested in other indicia of probable academic success, like success in a job, a major accomplishment, or a high-end LSAT. We’re basically looking at everything that will help us predict an applicant’s ability to thrive academically and as a member of our community.这不像数字那样简单，而且在不同情况下也不一样。比如，有的学生已经通过严格的学术成就证明了他们的能力，那LSAT对我们来说，就不是那么重要了。另一方面，如果这个申请者十年前上大学的时候，不是最优秀的学生，我们会对其他的学术成功的指标更感兴趣，比如在工作中的成功，一个重要的成绩，或者高端的LSAT分数。基本上，我们寻找指标，帮我们评估这个学生未来的学术成就和作为我们一员的资格。Is there any advantage to applying to the early admissions program?如果早申请的话，有什么优势吗？The main advantage is that if an applicant gets into their dream school, they can instantly stop worrying and get on with the logistics of attendance. Unlike in the undergraduate situation, there is no selection edge that goes along with applying early decision/admission.最主要的优势是，如果一个申请者进入了他的理想学校，他就能立即停止担心，并开始准备入学事宜。不像本科录取，我们没有早申请的额外选拔阶段。LSAT score:LSAT分数：Many schools have adopted the policy of considering an applicant’s highest LSAT score when rating his or her application. What is Cornell’s view on multiple LSAT scores?当评价申请的时候，很多学校采取了考虑最高一次LSAT成绩的政策。康奈尔是怎么看待多次成绩的呢？The American Bar Association, as part of its accreditation function, now asks law schools to use the highest LSAT score when computing their entering class LSAT median (and 25th/75th percentiles). This doesn’t affect how we review files, it only affects how we report to the ABA. If a person has taken the test multiple times, we look at all the scores and try to assess which is the most representative. If an applicant gives us reason to think a particular score is unreliable, we will take that into account. Remember, an LSAT score (despite appearances) is not some precise radar-like measure of an applicant’s ability to succeed in law school. It’s actually fairly mushy. Score differences of as much as 5-6 points don’t really make a big difference in the predictive validity of the test for any given individual.美国律师协会现在请求法学院用最高的LSAT成绩，当他们计算LSAT中段成绩的时候。这个并不影响我们的材料审核，只会影响我们给律师协会的报告。如果申请人参加了多次考试，我们会看所有成绩，并试图找出最有代表性的成绩。如果申请人给我们原因使我们认为某次分数不可靠，我们也会把这点纳入考虑。记住，LSAT分数（不同于表象）不是精确衡量申请人在法学院成功能力的指标。实际上，他相当模糊。相差5到6分的分数，并不是什么很大的区别。Undergraduate GPA:本科GPA：How much will an upward grade trend positively influence the likelihood of admissions?上升趋势的本科成绩对录取成功率有多大影响？(Laughing): a positive trend is always better than a negative one. But seriously, (and I know you may be tired of hearing this) it depends. We need to know what’s behind the trend. Was it because the applicant started taking easier or fewer classes? Was it because the applicant changed schools? Etc. Clearly if it reflects harder work, more focus, more maturity, or more facility, we’re going to view that in a positive way.（笑）：一个上升的趋势当然好过一个下降的趋势。但是，认真地说（我知道你可能都听烦了）看情况而定。我们需要知道这种趋势的背后原因。是因为申请人选了更少的课程或者更容易的课程？是因为申请人转学了吗？等等。无疑地，如果这个趋势反映了更努力的工作，更专心，更成熟，或者更熟练，我们会把这个看做正面的因素。In what situations should an applicant include an addendum to explain periods of sub-par academic performance?在什么情况下，申请者应该准备一份附录，以解释低水平的学术表现的时期？I’d recommend including one for any period of obvious underperformance that can be explained by some external factor, like sickness or some other personal circumstance.我建议如果有任何明显的表现不好的时期，都应该准备相应的解释，说明是外部原因导致的，比如生病或者其他的个人情况。Applicants often wonder whether poor grades in their last semester after an early offer of admission could lead to the revoking of the offer. Can you shed some light on this matter?申请人经常担心最后一学期的差成绩导致之前的offer被收回，你可以阐述一下这个问题吗？We wouldn’t do that unless it involved an issue of academic integrity, like an F received because of plagiarism. In cases where we need more evidence of an ability to succeed academically or where the applicant is making the case for giving positive weight to a strong upward trend, we’ll sometimes wait on a decision until we receive more up-to-date grades. So applicants who haven’t received a decision should always provide grade updates as they become available.我们不会这么做，除非是因为学术道德的问题，比如因为作弊得了一个F。当我们需要更多证据来判断学生学术能力的情况下，或者申请者在努力争取明显的上升成绩的时候，我们有时候会等到有最新成绩的时候再做出决定。所以，没有收到决定的申请人，应该持续提供最新的成绩。Some undergraduate institutions or majors seem to be known for inflating or deflating their students’ grades. Is this possible inflation or deflation taken into consideration by the admissions committee?一些本科学校或者专业会把学生分打得很高或很低。这种抬分或者压分的现象会纳入录取委员会的考虑吗？It’s hard to do this in a formal way. The Law School Admission Council gives us information that allows us to see a particular institution’s grading curve for graduates who have applied to law school, so we can usually get a rough imputed institutional “class rank” for applicants. However, when it comes to particular majors, we usually don’t get much hard and reliable information, unless it’s from a department whose grading curve is so out of line with the rest of the institution that its graduates would otherwise be disadvantaged.这个很难通过正式的途径评判。法学院录取委员会会提供一些信息，让我们了解到特定学校的评分曲线，这样我们就可以大概估算申请者在这个学校的排名。但是如果具体到专业或者课程，我们通常没有相关的可靠信息。如果某个系的评分标准和其他学校大相径庭，他的毕业生就有可能会被低估。How do you evaluate the transcripts of applicants from lesser-known or lower-tier undergraduate programs? Perhaps a weighting system and/or putting more weight upon the LSAT?你们怎么评价从稍差的学校来的申请者的成绩单？会给他们的成绩加权吗或者把重心放到LSAT上？We take every applicant on his or her own terms. Our sense is that there are strong students everywhere and our job is to identify them. As you can probably tell from my answers to the other questions, we strongly resist formulaic approaches to this kind of issue because they don’t account for the massive number of variables that can be involved in evaluating an applicant’s potential.我们根据每个申请者自己的情况来判定。我们的常识是哪里都有很优秀的学生，而我们的工作就是找出他们。你也可以从我对其他的问题的回答中判断出来，我们强烈抵制公式化的评审，因为他们不能考量在评价学生潜力过程中的大量变数。Personal Statement:个人陈述：The personal statement seems to be the part of the application that a student can most independently influence. Can you offer students any advice regarding writing the personal statement?个人陈述似乎是整个申请中，学生最能够做主的部分了。你能给学生一些建议，如何写个人陈述吗？I always advise students to treat the personal statement as if they were being offered a half-hour interview. You aren’t going to be able to cover everything, so pick something about yourself that you would want the interviewer to remember and that isn’t obvious from some other part of your application. Also, resist the urge to resort to contrivances that you think will help you stand out from the crowd. For example, don’t write your personal statement in rhyming couplets, or present yourself as a restaurant menu. You never want to make the reader of your application decide whether to admit you in spite of your personal statement.我经常建议学生把个人陈述看成是半个小时的面试。你不可能面面俱到，所以请选择你最希望面试官记住的事情并且是你申请其他部分体现不出来的事情。同时，请克制采取某些你认为能使你申请突出的手段。比如不要把你的个人陈述写成押韵的诗词，或者把你自己用餐馆菜单的形式展现出来。你永远不希望录取委员会在不考虑你个人陈述的情况下，决定是否录取你。How do you view personal statements that briefly mention Cornell Law, but could be sent to other schools with a few adjustments?你怎么看待一篇个人陈述，大概提到了康奈尔法学院，但是也可以在稍作修改后发到其他学校？I don’t have a set view on it. If it’s a good personal statement, it will be good regardless of whether it mentions our law school. The same would be true if it’s a bad personal statement.我对这个没有特定的观点。如果是一篇好的个人陈述，不管提没提我们学校，都是好的文章。如果是不好的文章，不管提没提我们都是不好的。Could an applicant significantly improve his or her chances of admission by drafting a personal statement specifically for Cornell?申请者是否能显著增加录取率，如果他为康奈尔专门写了一个个人陈述？I don’t think so. A specific connection with our law school is not really what we’re after. We’re looking to get to know more about the person who’s applying so we can make an informed decision about his or her potential.我不这么认为。和学校有特定联系，并不是我们追求的事情。我们希望能够了解申请人的潜力，这样我们才能做出信息充分的决定。What is the admission committee’s view on diversity statements?录取委员会怎么看待多样性陈述（Diversity Statement）？We have offered the option for many, many years. Remember, we’ve always been a so-called “full-file-review” school and are, within reason, looking at the fullest possible range of information in making our decisions.我们提供这一选择很多年了。记住，我们一直被陈祚“全材料审理”的学校。由于这个原因，我们会考察尽可能多的信息，以做出决定。Letters of Recommendation:推荐信：Applicants often have difficulty choosing and approaching potential recommenders. Can you offer some general advice regarding letters of recommendation?申请人经常在选择和接近推荐人的时候存在困难。你能提供一些关于推荐信的大致建议吗？If you are still in school or are a recent graduate, get letters from teachers who know your work the best. Give them a copy of your resume, and maybe even of your transcript. They often don’t have the full context of your situation. Also be sure to give them plenty of time. If you’ve been out of school for awhile and recommendations from teachers are a challenge, try to get recommendations for people who know your work well enough to be able to relate it to your odds of success in a rigorous academic environment.如果你还在学校或者即将毕业，请从对你的课业最了解的老师那要推荐信。给他们一份你的简历，甚至可以包括成绩单。他们通常对你的情况没有全盘的了解。同时，请确定给他们充足的时间。如果你已经从学校出来很长时间，很难要到推荐信了，请从对你的工作了解足够多的人那要推荐信，因为他能够评价你在严格的学术环境里的成功率。Does the admissions committee come across letters of recommendation that actually hurt an applicant’s chances of admission? If so, what sort of letter should be avoided?录取委员会是否见过对申请人产生损害的推荐信？如果有的话，哪类推荐信是应该避免的？We definitely see these every year. If a recommender tells you they can’t write you a recommendation, or would prefer not to, don’t insist!!! You really wouldn’t believe what can happen.我们每年都会见到这种推荐信。如果一个推荐人说他不能帮你写推荐信，或者不愿意写，不要坚持！！！你真的不会相信会发生什么事情。International Law Program and Joint Degree:Cornell puts a lot of emphasis on the strength of their international law program and also the joint J.D. and Master en Droit. What is the acceptance rate of Cornell Law School students who apply for this program and what unique opportunities are available to them?This unique program will receive around 100 applications from U.S. applicants in a typical year. We’re able to admit 2-4, depending on the year. Acceptance requires not only a strong academic and personal background, but also fluency in French. This is because after two years at Cornell, participants in this program spend the next two years at the University of Paris I (Pantheon-Sorbonne) in French law classes. At the conclusion of the degree, participants have the academic credentials necessary to become members of the Bar in both the U.S. and in France. This is just one of the very large number of opportunities to study overseas offered by our international legal studies program.Because Cornell Law School stresses their strength in international law, does the Cornell admissions process taken into account whether an applicant says he or she wants to do international law when applying?It’s true that we’re known for our strength in international legal studies and comparative law, but we’re also known for the richness and breadth of our overall curriculum. Whether or not an applicant is interested in international law, we still use the same standards that we apply to every applicant.Location:地理位置：What are the advantage and disadvantages to being approximately 200 miles from the major legal center in the country?离这个国家主要的法律中心只有200英里的距离，是怎样的优势和劣势呢？The good thing is that we’re just a 4 hour drive from NYC. The bad thing is that we’re a 4 hour drive from NYC. We have a lot of students who consider themselves “city people” and are worried about what it will be like in Ithaca. I can assure you that they have no problem adjusting. Remember, Cornell University has 19,000 students, a very large number of whom are graduate and professional students from around the world. In that kind of environment, there is always something to do and/or a group you can relate to. More importantly, our “city people” graduates routinely end up telling us that since law is essentially an urban profession, they really appreciate the opportunity they’ve had to spend several years enjoying Ithaca’s non-urban lifestyle before re-engaging urban life as a lawyer.好处是，我们开车到纽约市只需要4个小时。坏处是我们里纽约有4个小时的车程。我们很多学生自认为是“城里人”并且担心伊萨卡（康奈尔大学所在城市）的情况。我可以向你保证他们没有任何适应的问题。记住，康奈尔有19000名学生，其中很多是从世界各地来的研究生。在这种环境下，你永远可以找到志同道合的人。更重要的是，我们的“城里人”毕业生，告诉我们由于法律行业主要是在大城市工作。他们很高兴有机会能够在伊萨卡这样的非城市的条件下，生活数年，再返回城市并成为一名律师。Given Ithaca’s reputation for being somewhat isolated and quiet, what does the law school do to ensure that the students have activities to participate in outside of the realm of law?因为伊萨卡一直被认为是一个比较孤立和安静的城市，作为一个法学院，怎么保障学生有足够的法学专业外的活动参与呢？I addressed the size and diversity of Cornell University in a previous answer. This definitely spills over to the city of Ithaca, which is constantly rated as one of the most desirable and interesting small cities in the country. So, the law school doesn’t have to do a lot to ensure that students have a life outside the walls of the law school. It happens naturally because the opportunities are there and because we admit students who will definitely take advantage of those opportunities.我在上一个回答里提到了康奈尔的学生数量和多样性。这明确地超过了伊萨卡这个城市的范畴。即使伊萨卡本身，也一直被评为最令人向往和感兴趣的小城市。所以，法学院本身并不做太多的工作让学生参加学业外的活动。这些都是自然发生的事情，因为学生有很多机会，而且我们录取的学生都是善于利用这些机会的人。The law school ranking by US News:US News法学院排名：Since 1996, US News has ranked the Cornell Law School Program from as low as thirteenth to as high as tied for tenth with the latest ranking being twelfth in the nation (tied with Duke University). What is your opinion of the US News ranking of law schools in general and the ranking of Cornell Law School in particular? Have rankings influenced admissions decisions as a whole to become more numbers focused?自1996年以来，US News将康纳尔法学院最低排到过13名，最高排进前10，最新的排名是12名（和Duke平齐）。你怎么看待US New的排名，以及对康奈尔的排名？这个排名是否影响了录取决定？I try to think of the U.S. News rankings much like I think of the LSAT score. It’s ok as a rough guide, but unfortunately, it is scored in such a way that it is viewed by applicants and others as if it had scalpel-like precision. When an applicant chooses a law school based on the fact that it is ranked one or two spots above another school that would better fit their needs, that choice is a bad thing. The U.S. News ranking is simply not that precise. I was the Dean of Admissions here before U.S. News started doing rankings, and I definitely remember feeling more flexibility to take academic risks on promising applicants who, for example, had found themselves late in life or who hadn’t had all the advantages that most of our applicants have had. The U.S. News rankings have changed that somewhat. Unfortunately, what they have influenced much more are educational decisions being made by the academic leaders of some law schools. Many Deans are now fairly unabashed about “gaming” the rankings through actions that are rankings-driven at best and ethically bankrupt at worst.我对US News的排名和对LSAT分数的看法类似。它可以作为一个粗略的指导，但不幸地，很多申请者把排名看得如同外科手术般的精准。如果一个申请者选择了一个法学院，仅因为这个法学院比另一个学校在排名上靠前1,2位，那么这个决定是一个很不好的决定。US News的排名没有那么准确。在US News开始排名之前，我就是录取委员会的主任了。我清楚地记得，以前学生在选择学术风险时，更加灵活。他们中的一些在后来的生活中找到了自己，而其他一些人没有。但是US News从某种程度上改变了这一状况。不幸的是，他们影响更多的是，一些法学院的领导作出的决定。很多主任几乎是厚脸皮地玩排名的“游戏”，虽然他们获得了很好的排名，但在道德上，他们一无是处。Waitlist:候补名单：Many applicants view the waitlist as dreaded territory. At Cornell, how likely is it that a waitlist spot will turn into an offer of admission?许多申请者将候补名单看做是一个令人惧怕的领域。在康奈尔，候补名单上的位置有多大可能性转变为正式的录取呢？One thing about our waiting list that is different from most is that we offer interviews to everyone on the list. This gives us a real close-up view of the people on the list and this enriches our decision-making. For the last several years, our yield on initial offers has been very strong, which hasn’t left much room for applicants on our waiting list. This isn’t something we try to make happen, but sometimes it does. The anecdotal evidence at Cornell is that students who come in off the waiting list often do very well.我们和其他大部分学校不同的地方是，我们会给候补名单上的每个人提供面试的机会。这可以让我们和名单上的人近距离接触，并丰富我们做决定所需的信息。在过去几年里，接受我们录取的人非常多，导致没有多少空位给候补名单上的学生。这不是我们想让他发生的事情，但确实发生了。一个轶闻或证据是，很多从候补名单中进入康纳尔的学生都非常优秀。How does Cornell view letters of continued interest (LOCI) that are sent to the admissions committee by applicants on the waitlist?康奈尔怎么看待LOCI（候补名单上的申请者发给录取委员会表明录取意愿的信）呢？We prefer applicants who stay active in the process. If we don’t hear from someone after they’ve been placed on our waiting list, we make an assumption that they’ve decided to attend elsewhere.我们希望申请者在这个过程中保持活跃。如果我们很长时间没有听到候补者的反馈，我们会假设他已经去了别的学校。Transfer applicants:转学生：What do you look for in transfer students? Is academic success in the first year of law school the only important factor?你们怎么看待转学的学生呢？第一年的学术成就是唯一的指标吗？First year academic success and a couple of strong recommendations are the main factors. But, we’re also interested in other aspects of the applicant’s background that will make him or her a valuable member of the community.第一年的学术成就和几封强有力的推荐信是主要指标。但是，我们也对申请人的其他背景感兴趣，只要这些背景能使他成为我们有价值的一员。

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